//------------------------------// // The Aftermath // Story: Stinging Sadness // by Player 4 //------------------------------// (Lyra and Bon Bon's house) After finally making it to a soft sitting spot following that long walk back, I saw absolutely no reason to leave Lyra and Bon Bon's place in terms of my mood. In no way, no how did I want to take any more trips outside, I was having a great time with the TV, popcorn and books, and I wanted to remain involved in Lyra's recovery from the sting; it sure does feel good to help, and it's comforting to me to see progress, even if it does regress too. I thought about staying for dinner, even. But this had a strong barricade in front of it, because, tonight, the Apple family, whom I live with, had a special dinner planned. A special dinner that they wouldn't tell me exactly what it was or why it was so significant, but they did tell me they really wanted me there for it. ...yeah. It is frustrating, having to travel again after something like this happens. But the thing is, the Apple family and I had scheduled the special dinner for this date with the assumption that Lyra, Bon Bon, and myself's short film trip would be successful. Under those terms, I would have been perfectly fine taking the trek back to the farm. I mean, I could try to delay it, I'm sure the Apples would understand, but I decide not to, because I don't want to shake up our schedules or anything. For example, Applejack had an all-day visit to Appleloosa scheduled for tomorrow, and who knows what other commitments could come up the next days after. I'd rather not dig ourselves into a rescheduling hole. And hey, why would I not be enthusiastic here? A special meal with the Apples? Yeah, it's not like I wanted to wait on that until a later date. Not at all! Gauging the pros vs. the cons, staying with Lyra and Bon Bon would surely feel better in the moment; I'd preserve my physical and mental energy by not having to travel again for multiple hours. But then it would mean delaying the special Apple family dinner, which could potentially create scheduling problems down the line. Results: that's 2-1 for going back to the farm. Decision made. So I pushed myself to lift up out of my chair, said my "see you later"s to my creativity-driven friends and headed out the door, putting today's group meeting to a close. Lyra and Bon Bon were now left to prepare for a two-pony session of treating this sting, both physically and emotionally. The process was far from done; the physical pain, although decreasing, was still present enough that Lyra had trouble carrying out her normal life activities. Even something as simple and passive as watching TV felt like a task. She tries her hardest to keep her eyes and mind locked on the show and continue using an ice pack to minimize the pain, but she just couldn't do it. Even after it seems like she's succeeding, she eventually succumbs and rubs her foreleg while letting out a sad wimper. "It still hurts that bad?", Bon Bon asks. "Yeah.", Lyra responds. "Like, I can hardly even watch TV. And if I can't do something as simple as that, well, I don't know if I can do anything today at all; the sting pain is ruining everything. I would say I might as well go to bed, except, I can't, because I won't be able to fall asleep with this pain.", Lyra vents out in frustration. Bon Bon gets surprised at first, as Lyra rarely sounds like this. But she then takes it to heart and acts accordingly. She sits down on the couch next to her friend and makes an effort to help, even if it's only a little effective. "Let me tell you that it will pass.", Bon Bon says. "The pain will go away, and you'll be back to your normal life again. I'm certain you already know that, but I felt like I needed to reinstate it to you a bit, because I haven't heard anything from you about the future that is destined to be better." This is a good treatment. I know it always helps me to know that every hard period passes. Hopefully Lyra knows that too. Listening to her, she does, but there is a caveat. "You're right, Bonnie, it will pass. The sting will run its course and I'll get back to the way things were. But I can't just wait for that to happen. That doesn't solve the current problem of me being miserable right now, not being able to do any activities." Bon Bon needs to go into thinking mode here, not having an idea right away. Lyra waits patiently, not saying another word until her friend does. "I have an idea!", Bon Bon says about a minute later. "I could bring some candies up to you! A good shot of sugar and sweetness should distract you from the pain! How about that?" Lyra, upon hearing that word "pain", feels the pain more strongly again and clutches her foreleg with closed eyes, but still is able to respond happily to Bon Bon's idea. "Yes please. I don't think it will work, but I'll try anything.", Lyra says. "Good!", Bon Bon responds. The candy mare takes the back-and-forth trip across their house, hopping from the residential side to the business side and back again. She shows up back at the livingroom couch Lyra is on holding a red-colored box full of candies ranging from the most tangy and fruity to the darkest of chocolates. "I do think some sweet treatment, both in terms of candy taste and friendship, will help you here, Lyra." Bon Bon elects to do most of the work and let Lyra relax. She takes candy #1 out of the box and starts hoof-feeding her friend. Only a few seconds in, it did appear to be working! The taste of this candy, which was strawberry-flavored, was so perfect in every way, from the its number on the sweetness scale (probably 8 out of 10) to the texture that it did move her conscious thinking away from the sting. "Yummy!", she says. "Now, what's the next one?" "Oh, you'll love this one!", Bon Bon says, revealing a brown-triangle piece of candy. Candy #2 is chocolate, specifically, milk chocolate with coconut inside. I'd like to try that. Lyra takes a good bite of this one, and, letting her taste buds take the helm in her brain now, she regains a smile on her face. "Bonnie, you are the perfect friend for me.", she says lovingly. "You too, Lyra.", Bon Bon says, as they pull each other into a tender hug. (My house) Thankfully, I didn't have to take another super long walk to return to my guest barn at Sweet Apple Acres. I took advantage of the carriage system Ponyville had, waiting at a stop point that was conveniently close to Lyra and Bon Bon's house, and being grateful that I always carry bits around. While on the ride, I had been dealt some good time to collect my thoughts on our current situation, after things in my brain had been a bit filled up with me trying to relax after that leg-cramping trudge I took (with the addition of having to carry Lyra) to get back to her and her friend's place. So, let's have a rewind here, shall we? Yeah, I was really darn mad when Lyra got stung. Actually, let's do it justice: I was fuming. That stupid little bugger inflicting sharp, burning pain and inability to live her life properly on that innocent pony, am I right? I mean, I can't even use the self-defense excuse here, because in all honesty, the wasp brought those attacks upon itself! You didn't want us to try and ward you off? Well, then you should have gone the heck away! Not like we really had a choice, did we?! Ugh... No, I hadn't recovered from this. That was probably still a ways off. My anger even flared back up a bit along the ride as I replayed the dreadful scene in my head, needing to do so to collect my thoughts properly. Once I got to the end of that unpleasant ordeal, I began to put my work brain into action and plan out how I should roll with this situation. What kinds of things I should do while waiting for the anger to pass. Well, I tend to distract myself, and that always seemed to work. This is correct. When I was on Earth, a simple YouTube video usually got my mind off of whatever bad thing I was experiencing. In Equestria, I'd need something different, which... I do think could be this special dinner the Apple family is about to have with me. Yeah, that should work! Hey, at least that dinner is tonight! Lucky coincidence! Yep! Looks like that part is good. Now, back in my red guest barn, I develop something I didn't think of at all back when I was on the carriage ride. Using my pre-dinner time to let my brain run a speculation session, I'm now wondering how I'll look back on this whole thing when it's over. Before today, the horrible incident of witnessing one of my loved ones get stung by an insect was a scene that only existed inside my "scary mode" imagination. It hadn't actually happened to me yet, so my only possible reference as to how I would feel in the aftermath came from my mind. In fact, the aftermath was the period I full-blown ignored when I daydreamed of this kind of thing. All I visualized was the initial sting part. As for what happened today, me having to actually go through that for the first time, what do I hope I'll think when we get to the other side? Well, I do highly hope to gain something from this experience, and that is coming out stronger. I want, by virtue of having a solid reference point, to become more resilient to a sting incident should one happen again. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about being angry, but for me, I don't exactly enjoy going through it, if you get what I mean. I'd rather not have that kind of semi-rage I had today; being happy is my goal 99% of the time. Hopefully this does turn out to be the case. Let's see how things go.